Stories by: Noi Mahoney @ FreightWaves I

Borderlands is a weekly rundown by FreightWaves of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: Milwaukee Tool builds $86 million factory in Torreón, Mexico; husband and wife truckers killed in a crash near El Paso; $1.6 million in cocaine found in carrot shipment; Texas college expands CDL program to attract more trucking students.

Milwaukee Tool to build $86 million factory in Coahuila, Mexico

The Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation recently announced it will build a new $86 million factory in the Mexican city of Torreón, bringing 2,600 jobs when it starts operations in April 2020.

Officials with the Wisconsin-based power tool company visited 15 other cities in Mexico before deciding on Torreón, according to Mexico Industry.

“I’m very happy that [Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation] chose Torreón,” said Miguel Ángel Riquelme, governor of the state of Coahuila during a press conference on August 28. “Here they will find stable labor relations, safety, and qualified workers. We’re going to make sure they stay here.”

Torreón is located in the state of Coahuila, around 193 miles east from the city of Monterrey, Mexico. According to the article in freightwaves.com and ts author Noi Mahoney

The new Milwaukee Tool factory is already under construction in Torreón. Image: Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation

Read the full story HERE

Husband and wife truck driving team killed in crash near El Paso

A husband and wife truck driving team were killed in a deadly crash in Texas on September 27.

Texas Department of Public Safety officers said 62-year-old Deborah Regan, and her husband Terry Huey, 64, were traveling along I-10 eastbound around 90 miles south of El Paso, according to the El Paso Times.

Regan was driving the tractor-trailer while Huey was asleep in the cabin, according to officials.

Regan was approaching the Sierra Blanca border checkpoint in West Texas when she rear-ended a 2018 Freightliner tractor-trailer towing two Hyundai pup trailers, according to law enforcement.

The collision caused Regan’s truck to catch fire. Regan and Huey, both from Springtown, Texas, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Officials said Regan failed to properly control the speed of the vehicle she was driving. According to the article in freightwaves.com and ts author Noi Mahoney

Read the full story HERE

Cocaine valued at $1.6 million found in carrot shipment at Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently seized cocaine valued at $1.6 million in a load of carrots that was entering through a U.S.-Mexico border crossing in South Texas.

The commercial shipment was at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge on September 26 and referred to a secondary inspection at the port’s cargo facility, according to a CBP news release. The tractor-trailer of fresh carrots from Mexico was searched using a non-intrusive imaging system. According to the article in freightwaves.com and ts author Noi Mahoney

Read the full story HERE

Source and credits: freightwaves.com /  Noi Mahoney  /  iTrucker  / Mario Pawlowski